Lamar Jackson inspires Ravens as NFL winning streak continues in Tampa

Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards with five touchdowns and the Baltimore Ravens extended their winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory over the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

The Baltimore wide receiver Rashod Bateman made four catches for a career-high 121 yards and a score. Jackson connected on 17 of 22 passes. After a slow start, the Ravens running back Derrick Henry had an 81-yard run late in the third quarter to set up the Ravens’ fourth touchdown. Henry finished with 169 yards on 15 carries, and he made his second touchdown reception of the season.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is carted off the field after suffering an injury during Sunday’s loss to the Bengals
After trailing 10-0, Baltimore (5-2) scored 34 consecutive points. Jackson improved to 23-1 against the NFC – the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history.

The Ravens tight end Mark Andrews made two touchdown receptions and now has 43 in his career, surpassing Todd Heap’s previous franchise record of 41.

Buccaneers’ wide receiver Mike Evans caught a 25-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter but aggravated a hamstring injury in the second quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. His fellow wide receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with less than a minute left in the game.

The Tampa head coach, Todd Bowles, said after the game that Godwin suffered a dislocated ankle and is out indefinitely. “Chris is a hell of a player, and he’s a hell of a human being even more so than that,” Bowles said. “There’s not much you can say … unfortunately they’re not gonna cancel the games and we gotta step up and move on, but our hearts are heavy.”

Buccaneers’ quarterback Baker Mayfield said, “Gonna be thinking about Chris and Mike for a while here, but [we] have to move forward. This group is gonna have to be resilient. We’re gonna have to have guys step up. And that’s just the way it is.”

Baker Mayfield was 31 of 45 for 370 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for Tampa Bay (4-3). He was sacked three times.

The Tampa Bay tight end Cade Otton caught eight passes for 100 yards, and Rachaad White caught two TD passes.

Baltimore opened a 27-10 lead on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Bateman with 7:25 left in the third quarter. On the Ravens’ next possession, the 81-yard run by Henry set up a four-yard scoring pass from Jackson to Andrews.

Ravens’ wide receiver Zay Flowers couldn’t handle a backward pass from Jackson that was ruled a fumble and the Buccaneers recovered. Tampa Bay took advantage and pulled to within 34-18 on Mayfield’s 11-yard touchdown pass to White and a two-point conversion pass to Sterling Shepard with 11:24 left in the game. However, Henry had a 33-yard run to sway the momentum. Henry then caught a 13-yard touchdown pass to boost the lead to 41-18.

The Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey had a career-high two interceptions but had to leave the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and was ruled out. Tampa Bay’s running back Bucky Irving had a one-yard score and White caught a 23-yard TD reception to make it a 10-point game with just under two minutes left. The Ravens finished with 508 yards on offense, while the Buccaneers amassed 481 yards.

In Monday night’s other game, Chad Ryland kicked a 32-yard field goal with no time remaining to give the Arizona Cardinals a 17-15 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers at Glendale, Ariz.

James Conner broke a tackle attempt by Daiyan Henley near the line of scrimmage during a 33-yard reception on the decisive drive to move the ball to the Chargers’ 22-yard line and set up the winning kick. Conner totaled 152 yards (101 rushing, 51 receiving) to help the Cardinals (3-4) win for the second time in the past three games. Kyler Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and he also rushed for 64 yards and one touchdown.

Cameron Dicker matched his career high of five field goals to account for all the points by the Chargers (3-3), who lost for the third time in four games. Dicker kicked a 40-yarder with 1:54 remaining to give Los Angeles the lead before the Cardinals’ winning dash.

Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for a season-high 349 yards for the Chargers. Los Angeles’ Will Dissly had 81 yards on a career-best eight catches.